Peggy Nash was born to be underestimated. ‎

She’s a woman who speaks softly and has a sweet sense about her. She winces at the word, but she’s pretty. If she were an actress, she’d be cast as the lady with the lamp bending over a wounded soldier.

No threat here, surely. The MP for Parkdale-High Park and NDP finance critic sits in her Parkdale home with a cat in her lap and looks as if she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Lana Payne knows different. The president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour has watched her friend grow both as a union activist and crack labour negotiator. She’s over-the-moon at Nash’s decision, announced on Friday, to run for the leadership to succeed the late Jack Layton.

Payne knows that underestimating Peggy Nash is what most people do, and expects that a lot of political flies are in for a world of hurt.

“She’s tricky, you see,” says Payne, on the line from St. John’s. Her glee is palpable. “It’s because of the way she does her work. She doesn’t brag about what she does, she just does it. She’s extremely smart, and I don’t know anyone who works as. hard as she does. She’s driven.”

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